It's great, and uncommon, that something you thought was going to be good, that you hoped was going to be good, turns out to actually be good. Edgar Wright's latest film Baby Driver is exactly that.
I've been a fan of Edgar Wright before I even knew it. Back when he was directing the comedy Spaced I watched and enjoyed it repeatedly. Back then I was more drawn in because Simon Pegg was in it, whom I had seen in various other comedy shows (most memorably Big Train, where he always stood out). Looking back at Spaced you can see a lot of the editing tricks and directorial flourishes that are Edgar Wright's traits were there, in place, elevating the material. But, like I said, I didn't know who he was at the time.
Then along came Shaun Of The Dead.
This was a huge breakout movie for both Simon and Edgar, and whilst I did enjoy it I don't share the high-esteem and fondness for it that other people seem to do. I thought the final third, in particular, when the last of our heroes were holed up in the pub and the zombies closed in around them, lost it's way. The action felt off. There was too much talking when the action should have been taking things up a notch.
That famed sequence where the guys hit a zombie with snooker cues to 'Don't Stop Me Now' by Queen is considered a classic moment but, for whatever reason, that joke just didn't land with me. Still doesn't. It's indicative of how I felt about the final third of the film in general. I thought it got silliest when it ought to have dropped the comedy for a more intense finale. That was just me. Still, a cracking film, despite my mealy-mouthed views of the last act.
Edgar Wright's next film, Hot Fuzz, would do the opposite for me and absolutely come to life in its final third. Of the 'Cornetto trilogy' movies Hot Fuzz is my favourite.
I love this movie. It's got the comedy, it's got the action, it's got great characters, and did I mention that it's got the action? Taking the Hollywood buddy cop movie genre and translating it to a quaint, English town is a terrific idea that could have been an absolute mess in execution. But from the moment Simon Pegg's character has fly-kicked an old woman in the face and then trotted into town on horseback with a huge arsenal strapped to his person the movie delivers on its premise of being just as balls out action-packed despite the setting.
By this point Edgar Eright was on my radar. His style and editing and sense of humour was striking the perfect tone with me I was now an Edgar Wright fan. And his next movie, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, was probably my favourite of his ever (up until he went and made Baby Driver).
Despite not doing great business at the box office it's a movie that has since gone on to find prolonged cult life. I've re-watched it a couple of times and it still holds up. It has more in common with a good episode of The Simpsons in terms of gags-per-minute and pacing than most regular movies. It's like Edgar Wright unleashed his box of directorial tricks and threw them all into the mix. It definitely shows a step up into the bigger leagues of movie-making, and even if the box office returns didn't back him up, it showed that he could handle a bigger budget.
The last of the 'Cornetto trilogy' was The World's End which is easily the most accomplished of the three films. I also really liked it.
I suspect the absolutely bonkers ending was what perhaps turned most people's thoughts to the idea that this was the weakest of the trilogy, but that would be to forget all of the amazing stuff that went before. The cleverly constructed opening prologue of the movie that so intricately paves the way for everything that will follow (foreshadowing is one of Edgar's recurring traits and great to pick up in repeat viewings). The way each pub along the crawl is a label of what occurs. The terrific music soundtrack, all of which feed the emotion or action in the scenes.
You can watch The World's End, and indeed many of Edgar's movies, and still discover new things you'd previously missed. That's one of the many reasons why I really like his films. The attention to detail. The love of the medium. The invention he brings.
So, yeah, I was a fan. No question. And then Edgar went in to a bit of a dark period. He had long-nurtured bringing Ant Man to the screen, and with the domination of Marvel's success he was given the opportunity to write and direct the film. The details of what happened during the production of that film aren't known to me, save to say that Edgar and the studio did not agree with the direction he wanted to take the film in and he reluctantly had to walk away whilst they took the script he had written and changed, and handed it over for someone else to make.
I imagine that must have been a daunting thing to do. In Hollywood, when you're given a big licence by a huge studio, if you decide to walk away from that there must have been concerns from him about what that might mean for his career. Fortunately, at time of writing, what Edgar Wright appears to have done is convert that setback into his biggest success yet: Baby Driver.
As I said right at the top, this was a film I was looking forward to purely because Edgar was making it. But then I heard about how he was making the movie on-set in time with musical tracks he had already figured out the sequences for in his mind. This was a heist movie that had a choreographer. Edgar's brilliant talent of editing and picking the right tune for the right scene felt like a potential winning combination before I had even seen a single frame of it. Then it turned out he was going for a much more serious approach, and he had assembled a cast with the likes of Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx (amongst many notable others).
As the film's release drew nearer the hype pitched up. Baby Driver was picking up crazy good reviews everywhere. My excitement built ever more. Yet that's the danger about getting really excited about something; rarely can a movie match the level of hype that can sometimes blow up around it. Amongst all the noise and fuss and praise a movie is swelled by, more often than not, it just turns out to be nothing more than a movie.
Baby Driver was more than that. Baby Driver was an experience.
There's millions of words all over the Internet extolling the brilliance of this film so there's little reason for me to add mine to the mix. I thought it was fantastic is the short version. The excellent music and wonderful matching of action to the rhythms and beats I was already expecting going in. I also anticipated it would be super-cool, and yes it was (not least of all in Ansel Elgort's eponymous Baby). What I didn't expect was that the film would be so nerve-shreddingly intense. That was a surprise to me. Somewhere around the halfway mark the film switches into a more serious gear and, the moment it does, it never takes its foot off the gas.
I'm pleased I've got a new favourite film, and I am also pleased that Edgar Wright managed to put the disaster of Ant-Man behind him and come up trumps. I suspect the success of Baby Driver has pushed him into a bigger league now. I don't know what he's got planned next but, whatever it is, I'll be interested and excited to see it.
